A sales-tax on products collected in stages by enterprises.
It is a wide-ranging tax usually designed to cover most or all goods and services, including pharmaceutical products. The VAT rate of pharmaceuticals in the EU is often lower than the standard VAT rate.
Deductible VAT is the value added tax payable on purchases of goods and services intended for intermediate consumption, gross fixed capital formation or for resale which producers are permitted to deduct from their own VAT liability to the government in respect of VAT invoiced to their customers.
Non-deductible VAT is the value added tax payable by purchasers that is not deductible from their own VAT liability, if any.
[Source: adapted from EUROSTAT-OECD. Methodological manual on purchasing power parities (PPPs)]

VOLUME CONTROL

Measures applied by authorities (e.g. state, third party payers) or actors (e.g. hospitals) in order to affect and limit the amount of medicines prescribed and/or dispensed (e.g. pharmaceutical budgets).

VOLUNTARY HEALTH INSURANCE (VHI)

Health insurance that is taken up and paid for at the discretion of individuals or employers on behalf of individuals. VHI can be offered by public or quasi-public bodies and by for-profit (commercial) and non-profit private organisations.
In the European context, VHI can be classified in three different ways:
Substitutive Private Health Insurance provides cover that would otherwise be available provided by state. In a social health insurance system people who have no insurance obligation (in some countries e.g. self-employed) may opt for substitutive private health Insurance.
Complementary VHI provides cover for services excluded or not fully covered by the state (e.g. dental care), including cover for co-payments
imposed by the statutory health care system.
Supplementary VHI provides cover for faster access and increased consumer choice.
[Source: PPRI Glossary]

VULNERABLE GROUPS

Groups within a society facing higher risks of poverty and social exclusion compared to the general population. These vulnerable and marginalised groups include but are not limited to: people with disabilities, isolated elderly people and children, migrants, homeless people, ex-prisoners and drug addicts.
[Source: adapted from European Commission – Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities]